Processing machine with individual elevators



P. A. HAUCK April 19, 1960 PROCESSING MACHINE WITH INDIVIDUAL ELEVATORS Filed July 9, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 19, 1960 P. A. HAUCK 2,933,212

PROCESSING MACHINE WITH INDIVIDUAL ELEVATORS Filed July 9, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

{23l I I 1 r ul Will e IHWIW E 1 1L I as 88 :1: 81\ a? r 93 E 3 5 9| T; '2: 34/? 3| 35 g; 34 30, l9u 36 3| 8 T 42 42 Z 4| vo i 28 28 I?) 01? y L 21 k l 27 I IOI H5 99 fflge INVENTOR SI 36 a6 a L; BY 4 E M ATTORNEY} P. A. HAUCK A ril 19, 1960 PROCESSING MACHINE WITH INDIVIDUAL ELEVATORS Filed July 9, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 a m wi i T5 g Ja United States Patent C PROCESSING MACHINE WITH INDIVIDUAL ELEVATORS Paul A. Hauck, Union, N.J., assignor to Hanson-Van Winkle-Manning Company, Matawan, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Application July 9, 1957, Serial No. 679,777

Claims. (Cl. 214-89) This invention relates to material-handling apparatus, by which articles may be automatically transported to a plurality of delivery stations, and is concerned more particularly with improvements in a form of such apparatus, by which articles are transported to a succession of delivery stations but may remain at some stations longer than others. The apparatus of the invention may be used for various purposes and may be employed advantageously as part of a processing machine, such as those used for electroplating operations. Since all the advantages of the invention are realized in its use in electroplating machines, a machine for that application, which embodies the invention, will be illustrated and described in detail for purposes of explanation.

Automatic electroplating machines now in use commonly have a plurality of preparation tanks for cleaning, etching, rinsing, and like treatments, one or more plating tanks, and a plurality of finishing tanks for reclaim, hot, and cold rinsing, etc. In such machines, the workpiece carriers are advanced along the machine stepwise by a conveyor and an elevator operating in timed relation with the conveyor raises and lowers the carriers, so that they may be moved in raised position over the end of each tank and then lowered to immerse their load of workpieces in the solution in the next tank. Usually, the preparation and finishing tanks are of unit size, so that a carrier is advanced from one tank to the next on each step of the conveyor. The plating operation, however, requires a long time compared to any of the preparation and finishing treatments and, as a consequence, the

plating is carried on in tanks of multiple unit size having sets of anodes at a plurality of plating positions. The workpiece carriers are then either moved along the tanks with their workpieces immersed or are deposited at respective plating positions and left there until the plating has been completed.

In electroplating machines operating in a skip-stop cycle, in which the workpiece carriers remain at rest during the plating operation, the carriers are delivered to and removed from the working positions of the plating tanks by a conveyor and an elevator operating in timed relation. The carriers advance stepwise along the preparation tanks and are transferred to successive working positions of the plating tank, until all the positions are filled. Thereafter, the carrier first delivered to a working position of the plating tank is removed and delivered to the first finishing tank and the vacated position is filled by a carrier removed from the fin al preparation tank. The carrier in the second working position to be filled is next removed and replaced by another, and the sequence of operations is continued until the carriers in all the working positions have been removed and replaced by others, whereupon the cycle of operations is repeated.

In a skip-stop machine, the elevators for raising and lowering the carriers during the preparation and finishing operations handle the carriers in groups and may include longitudinal beams, which extend the length of the respective sets of tanks and support the carriers and serve as tracks for their movement above the tanks. The

elevating mechanism at the plating tanks must be so con-' structed that it can raise the carriers one at a time from the working positions in accordance with a cycle, while leaving behind carriages Whose workpieces require further treatment, and it must also be capable of depositing carriers in the working positions in accordance with the cycle. One form of elevating mechanism for the stated purpose includes independently operable elevators disposed at the several positions and driven by their own motors and, while such a mechanism functions satisfactorily, it is somewhat expensive to install and operate. Another type of plating tank elevator includes beams extending along the tanks and provided with lifting elements at the working positions, which can be operated to pick up or leave individual carriers.

The present invention is directed to the provision of a material-handling apparatus for delivering articles to and removing them from delivery stations, which includes individual elevators at the delivery stations and a common drive means, by which the elevators can be selectively actuated. In the new apparatus, the elevators include opposed parallel sections of track, which are movable vertically between the stations and a path along which the articles are moved above the stations. In their upper positions, the sections form part of a continuous track and the sections are raised and lowered by flexible members, such as chains, secured thereto and extending upward from the sections beyond the path. A bar is mounted for endwise reciprocation lengthwise of the path and means are provided for selectively connecting the chains of the track sections to the bar, so that the sections are raised and lowered as the bar moves in opposite directions. Preferably, two bars extending along opposite sides of the track are provided and the chains of the track sections of each pair are trained about sprocket wheels on a common shaft. Each sprocket wheel may then be connected to an endless chain having a stretch parallel to one of the bars and the endless chains and bars may have selectively engageable elements for connecting the bars to the endless chains, so that endwise movements of the bars are transmitted through the endless chains, sprocket wheels, and shaft to the chains attached to the track sections to be raised or lowered.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of part of an electroplating machine embodying the invention with parts omitted;

Fig. 2 is a view of the machine of Fig. 1 showing workpiece carriers raised by the elevating mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. l with parts omitted;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but on a larger scale and on the line 44 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing parts of the elevating mechanism of the machine on an enlarged scale.

The electroplating machine, of which a part is shown in the drawings, includes a row of preparation tanks, of which only the final tank it and the tank 11 preceding it are shown. The machine also includes a plating tank 12 having four working positions and a row of finishing tanks, of which only the first tank 13 and the tank 14 following it are shown. The individual workpieces, a group of which is indicated at W, are mounted on racks 15 suspended from carriers having axles 16 with wheels 17, and the carriers are moved along the preparation tanks with their wheels running on a track formed by a pair of beams 18, which are parts of an elevator structure and lie at opposite sides of the row of tanks. The. carriers are moved along the track by means of a conveyor PrC, which comprises a pair of chains 19 trained about sprocket wheels 20 mounted on shafts 21 supported for rotation in brackets 22 attached to the framework 23 of the machine. The chains are provided with lugs 19a or like projections, which engage upward extensions 24 from the carriers and cause the carriers to advance along the track as the chains move, The track 18' of the preparation tank elevator may stop above the tank 11 and, in that case the track is continued by fixed track sections 25 mounted on the machine framework beyond the end of the elevator beams.

The carriers are lowered to and raised from the last preparation tank 18 by an elevator, which comprises a pair of carriages 26 lying on opposite sides of the tank and provided with rollers running in guideways formed by channels in vertical members 27 attached to the machine framework 23. Each carriage 26 of the tank elevator .has a beam 28, to the inner face of which is attached an angle iron 29. The angle irons of the two carriages have horizontal flanges serving as sections of a track, which, when the elevator is raised, is a continuation of the track formed by track sections 25. A chain 30 is attached at one end to each carriage of the tank 10.

elevator and each of the chains is trained around a sprocket wheel 31 mounted on a shaft 32 and has a counterweight 33 attached to its other end. Shaft 32 extends across the machine and is supported for rotation in hearings in brackets 34 attached to the vmachine framework and sprocket wheels 35 are rigidly mounted on the shaft near its opposite ends and lie within endless.

chains 36 each having a lug 37 extending upwardly therefrom. t The endless chain 36 extends horizontally and is trained about a sprocket wheel 38 similar to wheel 35 but loosely mounted on a shaft 39, which is similar to shaft 32 and forms part of an elevator for the first working station of the plating tank 12.

At each side of the machine, a bridge member 40 in the form of a frame is pivotally mounted at 41 on a vertical member of the machine framework 23 with the side bars 40a of the frame lying on opposite sides of each pair of channel members 27 forming guideways for a carriage 26. Each frame 40 carries an angle iron 42 at its inner end and, when the carriages 26 move down, the frames 48 swing by gravity on their pivots and come to rest on stops 43 on the machine framework with their angle irons 42 forming continuations of the fixed track sections 25. When the elevator rises, a portion of each of its carriages 26' engages a pin 44 on the adjacent frame and swings the frame upward out of the way of the rollers 17 on the carrier being raised by the elevator.

.At the first working station of the plating tank 12, there is an individual elevator made up of a pair of car? riages 45 similar to carriages 26 and having angle irons 46 for supporting the wheels of carriers. A chain 47 attached'at one end to each carriage is trained about a sprocket wheel 48 fast on shaft 39 and the other end of the chain is attached to a counterweight 49. A pair of sprocket wheels 50 are rigidly mounted on shaft 39 near its opposite ends and each of the sprocket wheels lies within an endless chain 51, which encircles a sprocket wheel 52 loosely mounted on a shaft 53 forming part of an elevator for the second working position of tank 12 and carries a lug 54 similar to the lugs 37. A pivoted frame 55, which is similar to the frame 40, is mounted at the upper end of the path of travel .of each of the carriages 46 and fixed track sections 56 are mounted at opposite sides of the tank between frames 40 and 55.

Thesecond, third, and fourth positions of the plating tank are provided with elevators 57, 58, 59, respectively,

and the first finishing tank is provided with an elevator 60. These'elevators are similar in construction to those for the final preparation tank and the first working station of plating :tank .12 and include carriages attached to the 'endscof chains 61, .62, v63, 64, which are trained about on the adjacent chain.

sprocket wheels similar to sprocket wheel 31 and fast on shafts 53, 64, 65, and 66, respectively, and are connected at their other ends to counterweights. Each shaft also carries a sprocket wheel similar to sprocket wheel 38 fast thereon and lying within respective endless chains 68, 69, 70, and 71 provided with lugs 72, 73, 74, and 75, respectively. The chains 68, 69, and 70 are trained about sprocket wheels loosely mounted on shafts 64, 65, and 66, respectively, while the chain 71 is trained about a sprocket wheel loosely mounted on a shaft 76 not forming part of an individual elevator. The elevators 57, 58, 59, and 64} are provided with pivoted bridge members 77, 78, 79, and 80, respectively, and fixed track sections 81-84, incl. lie between the elevators for the several working positions of the plating tank and between the elevator 59 at the last working position of the tank and the elevator 60 at the first finishing tank. Track sections 85 lie between the elevator 60 for the first finishing tank and the elevator 86 extending over the other finishing tanks.

A pair of horizontal pull bars 87 are. mounted for endwise movement in suitable supports, such as brackets 88, along opposite sides of the machine framework adjacent the endless chains, such as chain 36. Each pull bar comprises a central rod 39, on which are loosely mounted a plurality of sleeves 90, each provided with a projecting hook 91 and an operating arm 92 with a counterweight 92a. The sleeves are separated by tubular spacers 93 mounted fast on rod 89 and the rods are reciprocated endwise by suitable means, such as hydraulic cylinders 94, each having a connecting rod 95 connected at one end to a piston within cylinder and at the other end to a bracket 96 attached to a sleeve 93 on the rod. Alternate sleeves along each pull bar have operating arms 92 extending to opposite sides of the bar and the weight of the hook and arm attached to each sleeve tends to rotate the sleeve to move the hook into a position out of alignment with any of the lugs on an endless chain, such as lug 37 on chain 36. When the pull bars are at their extreme positions at the left as viewed in Fig. 1, each sleeve on the bars is in such position that, upon proper angular movement, its hook 91 will lie to the rear of and aligned with a lug on an endless 32, and cause its chain 30 to be taken up and the elevator to be raised.

The pullbars 87 are selectively connected to. theendless chains of the respective elevators by electrical means disposed near opposite ends of each of the transverse elevator shalfts, such as the shaft 32, and each such electrical means includes a lever 97 pivotally mounted one plate 98 attached to one of a pair of frame members 99 extending along the lower stretches of the endless chains below the two bars. The lever 97 has a cross bar 9.7a at its inner end lying beneath the operating arm 92 on a sleeve 90 on the adjacent pull bar, when the latteris in its extreme position to the left, and the outer end of each lever 97 is attached to the plunger 100 of a solenoid 101. When the solenoid is energized, the lever is swung, so that its inner end raises the operating arm of] V the sleeve and moves the sleeve angularly to place its hook 91 in effective position in alignment with the lug lever 7 is de-en'ergized, the lever is swung by the angular movement of the sleeve by gravity and su'chmovement of the sleeve is stopped by the lever, when the hook 91 on the sleeve is in ineffective position relative to the chain lug. On the movement of the pull bars to theright, the hooks thereon in effective position engage the lugs on endless chains connected to one or more of the elevators 26, 45, etc., and the elevators are raised as the.

chains are moved .to .the right .by the pull bars.

When the solenoid acting on a When an elevator is raised by the action of its pull bars, its bridge member, such as member 40, is swung up and the track sections, such as sections 29, of the elevator move into alignment with the fixed track sections on opposite sides thereof, such as sections 25, 56, etc. A conveyor PC extends the length of the plating tank and it includes chains with lugs, which are similar to chains 19 trained about sprocket wheels 20. When an elevator, such as elevator 57, is raised, as shown in Fig. 2, the lugs 24 of the carrier 16 supported by the elevator move into position to be engaged by lugs on the conveyor PC and, on the next movement of the conveyor, the carrier is advanced along the track made up of the fixed and elevator track sections and the bridge members. The ends of the conveyor PC are spaced from the ends of the conveyor PrC extending over the pretreatment tanks and the conveyor FC extending over the tank 14 and the other finishing tanks. Accordingly, conventional means, such as hydraulically-operated pushers 102, 103, are employed to move the carriers from a position above the last preparation tank to a position above the first Working position of the plating tank, where the carriers can be engaged by conveyor PC, and from a position above the first finishing tank 13 to a position above the tank 14, where the carriers can be engaged by conveyor FC.

In the operation of the apparatus, the carriers are moved stepwise along the preparation tanks by the conveyor PrC and, at the end of each step of the conveyor movement, the preparation tank elevator descends, so that the workpieces on the carriers on the elevator are immersed in the several tanks. The carriers are lowered to and raised from the last preparation tank by elevator 26 operated by the pull bars 90 and, when the workpieces on a carrier have been immersed in tank It} and the carrier has been raised, it is advanced along the plating tank by conveyor PC and lowered to one of the working positions of the tank. The operations are repeated, until all the positions in the plating tank have been filled, whereupon, when the pull bars next move to the right, they act to raise carriers from the final preparation tank 10 and from the working position of the plating tank, which was first filled, and also to raise the elevator at the first finishing tank 13. While the pull bars remain at rest and hold the three elevators raised, the carrier raised from tank 10 is advanced to the vacated working position, while the carrier raised from the working position is advanced to tank 13. During the movements of the carriers mentioned, a carrier is moved into position above tank 10 and, when the pull bars move to the left, the three carriers are lowered by their elevators. The operations described are then repeated indefinitely with the carriers raised and lowered at the successive preparation tanks, the working positions of the plating tank filled and emptied in succession, and the carriers raised and lowered at successive finishing tanks.

The control of the solenoids, by which the elevators are selectively connected to the pull bars, may be eflected in various ways as, for example, by a conventional drum control mechanism, by which the solenoids are energized in the desired sequence. Also, the selective connection of the elevators to the pull bars can be effected by limit switches, so that the solenoids are energized in sequence in accordance with the cycle of operations to be carried out.

In the machine illustrated, the track sections on the individual elevators are relatively short and fixed track sections are required to complete the track from the preparation tank elevator to that over the finishing tanks. It will be understood that, if desired, the track sections on the individual elevators may be lengthened, so that, when the elevators are raised, their track sections form a continuous track between preparation and finishing tank elevators. In that event, the bridge members are made g of the same length as the track sections on the individual elevators and the fixed track sections are not needed.

I claim:

1. A material-handling apparatus having a plurality of delivery stations in a row, a plurality of carriers for workpieces and means for advancing the carriers along a path above and along the delivery stations, which comprises a plurality of fixed track sections lying end to end in spaced relation along the path, a plurality of track sections movable vertically between the delivery stat,ons and the path and receivable in respective spaces between adjacent fixed track sections, a flexible member connected to each movable track section and extending upwardly therefrom, a bar extending along the path, means for reciprocating the bar lengthwise, and means for selectively connecting the bar through the members to the movable track sections to cause vertical movements of the movable track sections as the bar moves lengthwise in opposite directions.

2. The material-handling apparatus of claim 1, in which the movable track sections in their upper positions form parts of a track extending along the delivery stations and bridge members are mounted adjacent the track above respective movable track sections and move to fill the gaps in the track caused by the descent of the movable track sections.

3. The material-handling apparatus of claim 2, in which the bridge members are biased toward the positions, in which they fill the gaps in the track, and are moved away from those positions by the movable track sections in the ascent of the latter.

4. The material-handling apparatus of claim 1, in which the flexible members are chains trained about sprocket wheels and the bar acts through the selectively operable connections to rotate the sprocket wheels.

5. The material-handling apparatus of claim 4 in which each chain is connected at one end to a movable track section, passes over a sprocket wheel, and carries a counterweight at its other end.

6. The material-handling apparatus of claim 4, in which each sprocket wheel is connected to an endless chain having a stretch parallel to the bar and the selectively operable means connect the bar to the endless chains.

7. The material-handling apparatus of claim 1, in which the flexible members are operatively connected to respective endless chains, each having a stretch parallel to the bar, the endless chains carry lugs, and the bar is provided with hooks movable into and out of positions, in which they engage lugs on the chains and connect the chains and bar.

8. The material-handling apparatus of claim 7, in which the bar carries a plurality of sleeves held against movement longitudinally of the bar but movable circumferentially thereof, each sleeve carries a hook and an operating arm, and electrical means are provided for engaging the arms on selected sleeves for moving the sleeves relative to the bar.

9. The material-handling apparatus of claim 8, in which the weight of the arm tends to move the sleeves to place the hooks in inoperative position relative to the lugs on the chains, and the electrical means act on the arms of selected sleeves and move the arms and sleeves to place their hooks into operative relation to lugs on the chains.

10. The material-handling apparatus of claim 7, in which the electrical means include solenoids.

11. The material-handling apparatus of claim 1, in which the bar is reciprocated by fluid means.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, which includes a plurality of pairs of oppositely disposed fixed track sections extending along the path, corresponding sections of the pairs lying end to end in spaced relation to form two rows of fixed track sections, a plurality of pairs of oppositely disposed movable track sections aligned with the rows of fixed track sections, the movable track sections of each pair being movable vertically between a delivery station and 7 spaces between a pair of fixed track sections, a-flexible member connected to each movable track section and extending upwardly therefrom, a pair of parallel bars extending along the path, means for reciprocating the bars lengthwise in unison, and means for selectively connecting the bars to the pairs of movable track sections to cause movements of the pairs of movable track sections as the bars move lengthwise in opposite directions.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, in which the flexible members are chains trained about sprocket wheels and the bars act through the selectively operable connections to rotate the sprocket wheels.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, in which the sprocket wheels, about which the chains attached to a pair of oppositely disposed movable track sections are trained are fast on a shaft, and a pair of endless chains are connected to each shaft adjacent the respective bars and. are connectable selectively to the bars. 7

15. The apparatus of claim 14, in which each pair of endless chains has stretches parallel to the respective bars, each endless chain carries a lug, and the bars carry hooks selectively engageable with lugs on the endless chains to cause the endless chains to move with the bars and rotate their shafts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,602,558 Clark July 8, 1952 2,685,954 Curtis Aug. 10, 1954 2,738,888 Todd et al. Mar. 20, 1956 2,789,569 Davis Apr. 23, 1957 2,854,159 Abbey .Q. Sept. 30, 1958 

